![]() Happily, all this is of little concern to Ian Beardwell. However, perhaps with an eye on the development spend needed for the next generation of StreetScooters, the company has been making noises about selling off its production arm, or at least inviting partners on board to share costs. Such has been the success of StreetScooter that DHL reckons its electric vehicle offshoot will be in profit by 2020. Interest in the model from external operators such as Milk & More has prompted DHL to open a second manufacturing plant with the capacity to take combined annual production to 20,000 vehicles. Today, DP operates more than 6000 StreetScooters throughout Germany. “When we had the Beast from the East, temperatures were down to minus 15deg C but my windscreen was clear in a couple of minutes,” he says. And the windscreen not only has washer jets but is also heated. And the way that if he forgets to put the handbrake on, parking pins shoot out automatically to lock the wheels. Or the way the vehicle locks automatically when he’s more than five metres away from it with the remote fob (there’s no key) in his pocket, and unlocks as he returns. Such as the fact that the StreetScooter’s figure-hugging driver’s seat is heated but the squab has no raised edge on the pavement side, so he can slide in and out easily. “I’m one very happy milkman,” he says, his eyes shining. It’s a high-energy routine he repeats 300 times a day (he has 650 customers but not everyone has a daily delivery), starting at one in the morning and finishing at seven. ![]() ![]() ![]() He’s a big lad but thanks to his driver-friendly StreetScooter Ian can move like a gazelle, leaping from the driver’s seat (conveniently, the StreetScooter is a left-hooker) to slide open the van’s lightweight side door, grab the next order, hurry to the customer’s front door to make the drop and collect the empties and hop back in. Exclusive first drive: 1180bhp Ariel Hipercar.Our favourite cars from London’s Concours of Elegance.The future of N: Hyundai N Vision 74 and RN22e driven.Last hurrah: The curious case of the Studebaker Golden Hawk.Ultimate EV guide: The big questions answered. ![]()
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